The system is the result of a collaboration with PJM Interconnection, which has a service showing how much renewable energy is available on the grid. This information will be unloaded to the OnStar cloud, from where General Motors can manage the recharge cycles of connected Volts based on the amount of renewable energy on offer.

Customers will also be alerted by a smartphone application, which will tell them when renewably sourced energy is available for them to use. The peak availability for renewable electricity is between 10pm and 6am.

Trials are already underway with a fleet of 17 Volts at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, and the technology is also being demonstrated at the DistribuTECH conference in San Antonio this week.

Nick Pudar, OnStar vice president of planning and business development, explained: ‘As customers configure their Volts to favor renewable energy for their charging cycle, this real demand signal will influence utilities to tap into renewable sources.

‘Solutions like this one will ultimately lead to increased renewable energy generation and allow Chevrolet Volt owners to be a key part of that energy transformation.’